Salman Rushdie is one of the world's most acclaimed novelists - and also, for a time, one of the most despised people on earth. His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and attracted a death sentence from the Ayatollah Khomeini. He was forced into hiding for close to a decade. His new book Shalimar the Clown attempts to put the reader into the mind of a terrorist. He tells Gavin Esler why he now sees the Satanic Verses controversy as a "prologue" to the attacks on September 11th 2001.

HARDtalk Extra is the BBC’s most widely broadcast arts and entertainment interview programme. Each Friday, the programme profiles leading personalities in the arts, entertainment, science, culture and the media. This edition of HARDtalk Extra will be broadcast on BBC World on Friday 2ndSeptember at 1400 and 2100 IST.